Welcome to the Wednesday Thread! Hope you'll come back often, share your images and your thoughts on the others.
There's a lot your image has in common with Jim K's, and a lot that's different too. The colors are rich and defined, there is lovely smooth flow and rhythm. You have also incorporated interesting shapes and angles and a kaleidoscope effect that pulls the eye to the middle feature instead of a gentle flow in and out of the frame.
I somehow get the idea of a colorful spider with this one so it has both a peaceful and ominous feel to it. I've never done such as these so I do admire them. Nicely made.
This old tree looks like it has been serving up apples for many a year. At first glance it looks like it has gone dormant in its final days, but when you look at the enlarged view you find tiny buds and flowers sprinkled around and you realize there is life there yet, and it will once again bloom and bear fruit, a reminder that creativity is not the sole province of the young. Nice shot to use imagination with!
I've watched this post and the different comments. It's an excellent image in my opinion, full of both story and technical grace. (Having recently graduated a year long dependence on a walking device, I relate personally to the uphill climb to get out of the shadow). The lines, angles, contrasts, and shapes all work well together to set the stage for the lone actor.
I was of mixed minds on the fire hydrant till you tamed it a bit, and now it serves its compositional function well without pulling the eye too much in its overwhelming whiteness.
Light Painting
My first post on DPrevived since all of you moved. The original DPreview site still seems to be working but Amazon is not clear about how long this will be.
There is so much to see in this picture. I like the orange (polaroid) color and the fact that there is a very big road with only one car. This car balances the picture. I'm always puzzled by the fact that the electricity cables are very visible above the ground. Maybe because everything is more densed in the Netherlands we always put the cables as much in the ground as we can so we don't see them.
Thanks for looking and commenting. It's actually a "street" shot more than anything else. The opportunity was there for just a second, as there were others on the beach and the composition wasn't possible for very long. The boat was in just the right spot and his body language was great.
The detail in the sky was as much as I could pull out after a lot of post processing. It was actually very featureless at the scene and in the RAW file.
Thanks so much for your interest and comments! Generally speaking, in the U.S. the above-ground cables are found in the older (original) sections of cities and towns where there are lower incomes and no interest from development groups.
I will reply by relating the steps I took in pp to make that pic (after lucking a completely still few hours to get that and a lot of other shots). Initially I cropped off some earth of the dam wall at the bottom. Then it became clear I needed to balance the reflection with the real. So I took a bit more off the bottom, wanting to leave all of the biggest tree, and cropped a big piece of sky to get the trees above and below the same (hence the almost panoramic aspect ratio). I was aware of the grass and other plants at the bottom and bark and twigs at the top and I guess I could have spent time to clone them out but to me they add a little bit of foreground frame. I am not sure I could edit out the growth on the water without making it obvious... But I hear you.
My camera produces less than vibrant colors. Further, the Australian bush doesn't pop too much. Eucalypt leaves often have shades of grey with their green and not a lot of sheen. The in camera settings have come recommended from a few ppl who know these cameras (DPR and others). But that is ok as in the last week or so I have been learning to play with noise, sharpness, contrast and saturation I am reluctant to add too much contrast and saturation in that the pic starts to deviate from reality. When I look at my pic at the default size in the forum, it does look a tad washed out, but when I view it full screen or 100%, I see a touch more color than what my eye saw on the day, or how my mind remembers the scenery here.
I don't know if the slider numbers are consistent across pp editors. But in that pic I reduced noise by 20, added sharpness 30, and contrast and saturation 30. If I go much more with the contrast and saturation it starts to look like a glossy magazine cover. Maybe I need to confer with a photographer experienced with the scenery here. I would be happy to post further edits to get a consensus here but not sure Roel wanted that until we have thread view.
Welcome home, Fox- That's an interesting offering. I have never thought of using a glass ball with light painting but it's a nice look. (I've never become proficient with my glass ball at all, actually, so you've reminded me to get it out and try again). The billowing shapes inside the ball are fascinating. I don't know enough about either light painting or use of glass balls to do more than tell you I like it, and I think the ball placement along the lower right thirds marker is a good idea. I am not sure the tiny reflections of the surroundings (various stick like figures) is adding enough information or mystery to be useful, so if it were mine I might eliminate them and see if I liked it better without them.
Maybe Mike F will chime in, as he is an Aussie and familiar with the landscapes there. The landscapes where I live are not particularly colorful most of the year either, but with a slightly different color palette. The numbers you're mentioning on the adjustment sliders sound about right for basic adjustments based on editors I've used, and you don't ever want to go overboard with saturation sliders, there are other tools that work better, especially if your editing program allows for adjustments of individual colors. How much disembodied intrusion to leave vs remove is always the photographer's decision. My own personal taste is try to to include branches if I include leaves, and to try to include bases of ground plants if I include tops. But I never read that anywhere, I just have that as my own guide to help make sense of the edges of botanical things.
Your scene is nice enough to revisit often and find many different interesting compositions with different lens lengths and camera setting. It looks like there are animals there (cows and ducks at least) various structures, nice reflective water, even hills (what I would give for a hill!). Lots to work with on small and large scale.
The number of participants here exploring creative ways to use cameras as tools to create abstract images has surprised me. It must be symptomatic of something but I don't know what that something is.
I don't see this image as completely abstract. The shapes suggest cars to me and fast cars at that. Testing, wind tunnels and wind flow. The colour states that this is no conservative, practical model either. The tapering front, the left right direction and the circular form all work to create the impression.
I'm not getting it. Street photo, yes. the soft focus and angle suggest it was taken fast, maybe shot from the ship or through a bus window. But why? I'm not seeing anything that would have made me want to grab that shot. Would you like to tell us what you had in mind?
